"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future"........
John F. Kennedy

Monday, December 29, 2008

State Rep. Wyvetter Younge dies at 78

EAST ST. LOUIS — Wyvetter H. Younge, one of the longest-serving current members of the Illinois House, has died. She was 78.Younge was taken to a hospital with a bleeding artery on Dec. 9. She died Friday night from complications that arose during surgery, said her daughter, Margaret Hewitt.Younge, a mother of five, represented East St. Louis as a Democrat since 1975. Hewitt, who is now 43, was nine years old when Younge was first elected.Hewitt remembers that her mother drove 90 minutes each way to Springfield every day so she could see her children in the mornings and evenings.In March, Younge made news when she said she’d pray for a man with a gun who forced his way into her home and made off with $7.Funeral arrangements are pending.

"And this is the cause of my life -- new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege. "Ted Kennedy